A visit to the future Ramsey railroad stop

By
PAUL LEVY
Star Tribune

November 23, 2011 — 12:26am

Bruce Bisping, Star TribuneAnoka County, Hennepin County, city of Ramsey and Metropolitan Council officials returned to the first Northstar train to stop at the site of the future Ramsey Station for the trip back to Minneapolis. A special train took them from Target Field Station to the Ramsey Station on Wednesday.

As backers of the Northstar commuter rail line marked its second anniversary last week, they were laying the groundwork to pick up another 200 passengers a day at a new station in Ramsey.

Local officials rode a special train to the site of the planned $13.2 million station, which will be the commuter line's seventh station. It's been approved by the Counties Transit Improvement Board and is scheduled to open in a year.

The 200 additional customers it will bring daily amount to nearly a 10 percent increase in Northstar ridership. The line now attracts 2,400-2,600 riders a day, or more than 600,000 this year through Oct. 31 -- down 2 percent from the same period last year. Weekday ridership was up but special events ridership was down.

The Ramsey Station will be a link in the regional network that will get riders from Sherburne and Anoka counties to downtown Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota, the airport, the State Capitol and downtown St. Paul.